The Corporal's Assistant
by Veronique Inkblot
Summary: {Levi x Reader}. [Name] [Last Name]-formerly a member of the Garrison-has been reassigned as Corporal Levi's assistant, much to his confusion and chagrin. But unknown to him as well as [Name] herself, she is being watched-in a good and bad way. As a past she was sure she put behind her resurfaces, how will she cope with the memories and upcoming dangers? *Rating may change*
1. Chapter 1

New story! ^.^

Ivory: Kenpai for Shingeki no Kyojin.

Owned by Isayama Hajime!

Ivory: Story by Veronique

And, by the way, that's Ivory, my muse. She finally decided to make an appearance!

Ivory: More like you finally decide to introduce me…

…Ignoring that comment… anyway this'll takes place months before the Expedition during the Female Titan Arc. If you're not caught up by the time I get to the parts that were actually in manga/anime, it'd be a good idea to start now.

* * *

Prologue

Levi had been sitting in his office at his desk, filing papers and waiting. Erwin had told him that he wanted to introduce someone before lunch. There was only a few left minutes left before that time.

After completing the last form, he reorganized the stack, each sheet lined up precisely. He _was_ a man of neatness.

He laced his fingers together, resting his chin on the back of his hands and stared at the door, waiting. It hadn't even been a minute before he grumbled, "Whoever Erwin's bringing better hurry up. I'm hungry."

An instant later there was a firm knock on the door. "Finally…" Levi muttered as he walked to the door and swung it open. Instead of seeing Erwin and his super thick eyebrows, a woman somewhat taller than Levi, stood mid-knock, and—in fact—her eyebrows were thin. She had shoulder length [hair color] hair, which had a strangely light hue to them; her eyelashes had nice curls to them, but they were a dark color in contrast to her hair and she had wide [eye color] orbs for eyes. Her skin was a smooth [skin tone] color, plump lips forming an innocent "o" shape; and two earrings dangled from her ears: onyx triangles. She wore the proper attire for the military, but Levi doesn't recall seeing her before.

He raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask who she was, she spoke up as she saluted.

"Um, excuse me, sir. I'm looking for Lance Corporal Levi. Commander Erwin told me to look for a super short guy somewhere along this hall, since he couldn't come himself," Levi's eye twitched slightly at that. "But I don't see anyone that short, really. Have you seen him?"

Levi cleared his throat. "Yes, I happen to know Levi…" her eyes lit up and she smiled eagerly. "For, I am Levi." Her mouth dropped a little.

"Oh, wow. When Commander said to look for a 'super short guy' I expected him to be… like a dwarf," she looked him up and down. "You don't even seem that short. But I guess they would think that since-" She cut herself off, noticing the agitation in his face.

"State your name, age, and purpose, woman." He snapped, folding his arms across his chest and tapping his foot.

"Ah, I'm sorry; how stupid of me!" she placed her hands behind her back and tilted her head slightly upwards, taking on a proud form. "[Name] [Last Name]; age 22; I was told to report to Lance Corporal Levi's office for duty as his assistant,"

"An 'assistant'? The hell do I need an assistant for?" he narrowed his steel blue eyes more.

"I was only following orders, sir, from the Higher-Ups."

Damn Erwin. Does he think that Levi can't file shitty pieces of paper? The blonde must be getting too old for his eyebrows. Levi sighed in exasperation and hunger. "Whatever. I'll deal with you later." he pushed past her, earning a small yelp from her mouth.

"A-ah, please wait…" her voice trailed off as her stomach growled. Loudly. Levi stopped in his tracks and casted an annoyed glance. "I… kinda skipped breakfast…" she mumbled as embarrassment crept onto her cheeks.

"Just hurry along, dolt." He grumbled as he stormed down the halls to the mess hall.

* * *

Author's Note: I laugh at myself for forgetting that this story was just sitting there, chap finished and all, whilst I'm trying to finish the first chaps of other stories at the same damn time! Multitasking is hard work... -.-'


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry if the conversations seem really… real-time, I suppose, in this chap and future chaps. :/ I tend to get really descriptive while writing... Not really sure if that's a good or bad thing, though…

* * *

Chapter 1

"Who's the new chick?"

"Why's she with Corporal?"

"What's up with her hair?"

"She's pretty hot."

"Whoa, her boobs are _big_!"

"Seems like an airhead."

"When'd she enlist?"

"What's her relationship with Corporal?"

"She looks relatively young."

"That's a fine piece of ass."

"Have I seen her before?"

All sorts of questions and remarks fluttered around the mess hall. [Name] could only pick up tidbits of them as the volume remained pretty loud.

Plopping into the wooden seat next to Levi's, she looked around, catching some of the stares she received from others. She hated that kind of attention. _Might as well suck it up though_, she thought defeated. _Comes with being the 'new guy'… _In a place like the Survey Corps, almost everyone knew each other one way or another. So it made sense if one could tell that someone wasn't there originally.

Levi suddenly stood up, startling her. "Stay here." That was all he said before walking away. Probably going to get food.

_No duh, [Name]! This _is_ the mess hall!_ She mentally slapped herself for her stupidity.

Sighing, she propped an elbow onto the table and rested her chin in her upturned palm, and gazed aimlessly out the window.

At another table not too far from [Name]'s, sat Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Ymir, Christa, Connie, and Sasha. Like everyone else, they were casting glances at the woman, eating and, discussing her amongst themselves.

"Her hair's strange," Connie commented as he took a bite out of his bread. "Do you think that color's even real?"

"Can't be real. It's too unrealistic." Jean snorted.

"Maybe she put some weird shit in her hair to make it look like that," Ymir stated curtly with an uninterested face.

"Ymir! That's not nice. For all we know, it actually could be her real hair color," Christa scolded as she jabbed an elbow into Ymir's arm. "We live a pretty secluded life after all."

The tomboyish brunette placed her arm over Christa's shoulder and smirked. "Well, once you marry me, you won't have time to worry about things like that." The blonde female then only sighed and placed a hand to her face, but a small smile graced her angelic features.

Eren tore his gaze away from their topic of discussion. "Wonder what she's doing with Corporal Levi?"

"Girlfriend maybe?" Sasha piped up with a loaf of bread in her mouth, although her cheeks were already full. Everyone looked at her with a "That-is-the-stupidest-thing-I've-ever-heard" look taped on their faces. "Just a thought..."

"The day that short-tempered shorty gets a girl is the day I stop wearing this scarf," Mikasa added coolly, subconsciously bringing the red fabric further up her face and to her nose. She took a whiff of it. Reminded her of home. "Anyway, if you guys are so curious, why not go ask her?"

"Yeah, why don't you, Connie? The corporal's not even over there at the moment." Ymir prompted.

"Hell no! What if he comes over there while in the middle of the conversation or…" Connie trailed off as he saw all of the doubtful gazes from everyone.

Ymir: "Wuss."

Eren: "Coward."

Sasha: "Mmmf hmmph."

Jean: "Bald baby."

Mikasa just shook her head disdainfully as Armin and Christa exchanged glances between each other and then continued to silently watch.

"Ugh! Fine, I'll do it." Connie slammed his hands onto the tabletop as he stood. He marched over to the woman's table, earning some curious glances and amused ones from Eren and the gang, as well as others.

They watched as he slammed his hands, once again, onto the tabletop for attention, and they saw [Name] jump slightly. She regarded him with a inquisitive look, and said something, but they could not hear.

Connie did what seemed to be some sort of introduction. And a dramatic one at that. Throwing a thumb to his chest, he shouted. "I'm Connie Springer, part of the Survey Corps! Who the hell are youuuu?!" He mentally credited instructor Keith Shadis for that last line.

Ymir face-palmed, Christa giggled, Armin sighed, Mikasa shook her head uninterestedly, Jean chuckled, Eren stared with his face scrunched in slight confusion, and Sasha just continued to stuff her mouth with food.

To their mild surprise—including Connie's—she smiled amusedly before extending a hand. Connie shook it. "[Name] [Last Name], pleasure to meet'cha,"

"'[Name] [Last Name]', huh… I'll try to remember that,"

She raised a hand and using her forefinger and thumb, she lightly flicked one of her earrings. A strange gesture, Connie noted. "And I shall remember you, Connie."

"So, did you just join the Survey Corps or something?"

"Well, I'm a former soldier of the Garrison. Now I'm here."

"Really? Wow, did you get demoted or something?" His wide eyes widened a fraction.

She chuckled, leaning back in her chair casually. "No, I'm sure it's not that," He looked at her, expecting her to elaborate. Instead, she changed the subject. "But from what I know, that'll be a story for another time. So, what did you really wanna ask me?"

He took on a fake shocked expression. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you and your little friends were talking about me," she looked over to Eren's table. Everyone there turned like they weren't watching. "Now, tell me."

Connie rubbed the back of his neck in defeat. "Well… it's about… er…" [Name] tilted her head, ushering him to get to the point. "It's mostly about your hair."

[Name] sighed loudly. "Is it really that strange?"

Connie nodded his head fervently. "It looks _orange_, for cripes sake. How is that _not_ strange?"

"Touché," she exhaled again before replying. "My hair does this whenever I spend a lot of time in the sun. It's actually [hair color]," She lazily twisted a finger in her locks.

"Ah, I see." Connie nodded.

"So, that all you wanna ask or you wanna know about my teeth too?"

"Your teeth?"

She spread her mouth wide, revealing her two canines. They looked pointier than the average human's.

"Whoa! Did you get them sharpened?" Connie exclaimed.

"What?" Her [eye color] orbs widened before she burst out laughing, her shoulders bouncing. "Oh hell no! That'd probably hurt! You're a funny kid, Connie." [Name] leaned forward in her seat, propping her elbow on the table, her chin resting in her upturned palm. "It's a strange trait that ran in my family. If my memory serves me right, I think only a few of my family members didn't have them."

Connie didn't notice the small sad smile that graced her plump lips. "So where's your family now? Are they living a comfortable life within the inner walls?"

She chuckled lightly, ruefully. "If you count the soil the inner walls, then yeah."

"What?" He questioned without a clue to what she meant.

"My family's dead, Connie." She deadpanned. The same kind smile was still plastered on her face, though.

"O-oh. Oh! I'm sorry for your loss..." He bowed his head as an apologetic gesture. _Well that became awkward pretty quickly, _he thought as a few moments of silence between them lasted.

[Name] waved a hand blithely, a nonchalant look on her face as she shooed the matter. "Thank you, but don't sweat it. They've been dead for years; you wouldn't've known." Her stomach then growled audibly, and she blushed, clamping a hand on her abdomen, as if that would silence it. "Whoo~, honestly, I need to feed this beast. Where'd the Corporal go, anyway? Telling me to stay here… I'm starving." She grumbled, looking in all directions for the short man.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, [Name]. I gotta go." Connie wrapped up his prolonged conversation with her.

"Oh, alright. See ya, Connie. Hope I didn't take up too much of your time." She waved, and he left back to his table. _Such a good guy,_ she thought with a happy smile.

But her happy moment was ruined once again by the noisy rumbling of her stomach. She dropped her head onto the hard, wooden surface of the table, wincing a little at the contact.

"So… freaking… hungry…" she groaned quietly, crossing her arms over her head. "Lunch is gonna be over soon and then I'm gonna have to wait until dinner, which isn't for at least 6 hours from now and then I'll be all hungry and grumpy and frail and—"

"Excuse me; do you know where Corporal Levi is? He usually sits here, but I haven't seen him…" a female voice inquired.

Wait, that voice sounded somewhat familiar. _Is that…? _[Name] lifted her head and her eyes brightened in joy and a large smile tugged at her lips. "Petra!"

Petra was a very special person to [Name]. They were practically sisters, having grown up together. [Name] lived with her and her father, after the… _dreaded incident_ took place. [Name] would've been left to die on the streets if she hadn't found her then.

The ginger's golden eyes widened in shock. "…[Name]?" She gasped. But before she could ask what she was doing here, the excited woman reached over the table and wrapped her arms around Petra's waist tightly, so her face was on Petra's stomach.

"Petra! I haven't seen you in forever! I missed you so~ much!" Her stomach growled again, and she felt as if all her strength just left her. She withered back into her seat with a low, long groan, her head hanging slightly. "Yup, still hungry…"

Petra giggled. "[Name], you're in a cafeteria; I'm pretty sure you're allowed to go eat,"

[Name] sighed. "I know that, but Corporal Levi was all like, 'Stay here' and so here I am, sitting and—"

"Wait, so you saw the corporal?"

"Yup."

"Where'd he go? I have to deliver papers to him."

"I dunno."

Petra sighed. "Well, then I'm pretty sure that when he said 'stay here', I don't think you have to starve yourself.

"Whatever you say, Petra," [Name] waved a blithe hand.

"Besides, what are you even doing here? I thought you usually went out to eat or something, since you were in the Garrison."

"Well, yeah, I was, until I was reassigned to be the corporal's assistant."

Petra was taken aback, the shock written on her face. "A-assistant? So… does that mean…?"

[Name] crossed her ankles, and placed her hands in her lap. She gazed into Petra's eyes, a serious expression replacing her usually carefree one. "Yes, I'm a part of the Survey Corps now. I promise I'll help rid this world of the Titans; and I'll die trying."

"I like your enthusiasm, but do you even possess the correct skills to slay a Titan?" a monotonous voice spoke behind [Name], causing her shoulder's to jump slightly. She craned her neck up to meet the Corporal's cold, steel blue orbs burning into her. She stood abruptly, knocking her chair over and saluted.

"Sir!"

"Tch. No need to be so loud, Newbie Brat," One of _Newbie Brat's_ eyebrows twitched at the "nickname". Hopefully that wasn't what he was going to keep calling her. He turned his head to look at the other woman. "Petra, I need you to take care of some paperwork for me for a while. It's in my office,"

"A-ah, yessir!" she realized he was talking to her. "Oh, but I have some other paperwork for you, too."

"Just leave them on my desk," Petra nodded. Turning to leave, he flicked his wrist at dazed woman behind him. "You, come with me." And on that note he left, a clumsy [Name] waddling behind him. She turned her head to Petra. Waving a brisk farewell, she barely dodged crashing into the wall, stumbling out the door.

_Guess I'm really gonna have to wait 'til dinner. Oh sorrow! _She cried internally.

* * *

Author's note: Wow, two chaps in a day…! ~Accomplishment~! Okie dokie… I'm not sure if that was boring or naw. But I promise it'll get more interesting—starting next chapter! Yakusoku! .

Ivory: …right…

What was that?

Ivory: Nothing, nothing…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

"Sorry, sir, but I'm supposed to be doing what, exactly?" [Name] questioned as she adjusted the harnesses around her shoulders as she and Levi were in the equipment room. She was getting her 3D Maneuver Gear (3DMG, for short), for whatever reason Levi needed and he stood waiting in the doorway. She then moved to the straps around her waist and the ones that kept the gear on her body. She secured them nice and tight.

Levi sighed in annoyance, his arms crossed over his chest. "You're going to be testing your skills. Did I not already explain this?"

"Well, I guess I just didn't hear you, sir," She bent over to brush some dust off of her boots. "Maybe I would've heard if you weren't so short and the thundering of your boots didn't drown out your voice…" she mumbled to herself, a little irritable. This guy might be high ranked, well known, handsome—wait, was he? She glanced at him. Although his face was set in a frown, maybe even a scowl, Corporal Levi was indeed a handsome man—and dubbed "Humanity's Strongest"; but that bad attitude of his lowered her expectations.

"What was that?"

She straightened slowly and then shrugged. "Oh nothing," [Name] then went to readjusted the strap that lay across her chest. Well, it more so went _on top_ of her chest since she was somewhat of a busty lady (at least in her opinion. It made her self-conscious at times). Pulling on the brown strap, her fingers slipped and it snapped against the exposed skin near her collarbone. Hard. _Nope, that didn't hurt at all!_ She thought with a tiny and quick grimace, that only someone with good eyes would've been able to catch. She never liked to show she was in pain; it brought too much attention, be it wanted, unwanted, or needed, which always made her feel like an attention-seeking five-year-old. Being in pain also made everyone around her worry. It made her feel like a _burden_: nothing more than an extra sack of potatoes on an already full cart.

But there was time when she didn't think that way.

With her all of her gear on, they walked to the training grounds, crossing through the courtyard. [Name] admired some of the flowers that grew on the outskirts of the courtyard; there were purples, reds, pinks...a beautiful assortment. As far back as she could remember, she always took an interest in agriculture. Yet, she didn't want to become a farmer or gardener. Gardening was more of a pastime, she'd like to say.

When they arrived at the significantly large forest of trees, she stood at what she suspected was a starting line, and stretched a few times. Levi came over from wherever he disappeared to (when had he _left_, though…?!), gently ushering a black horse behind him. It almost—_almost_—looked cute at how the horse brought out the corporal's shortness. Levi's head just reached above the horse's snout! [Name] had to stifle a giggle.

"First, your Titan-killing skills," Levi began. "Let's see how well you handle those blades." [Name] gave him a confused look. Why did she have to go through this? She was already a certified member of Survey Corps, right? "What's up with that face? If you have to shit, do it elsewhere."

_The fuck?_

"Um, I don't, sir," she furrowed her brow. "It's just that, when I graduated, I was in the Top Ten. I'm pretty sure I'm skilled enough to—"

"Shut up and fucking_ get a move on_." Levi ordered with a glower as he mounted his horse (with surprising ease!).

Insulted by his choice of words, [Name] huffed but obeyed. With a running start, she pulled the triggers on the detached hilts for her blades. The grapples shot out from their residence on her hips in front of her and then plunged themselves into a tree trunk. The sound of the wires rang in her ears when they pulled her forth and her mane of that strange orange hair flew behind her.

_Alrighty, then… time to show Corporal No-Filter what I can do!_ She thought determinedly. Though she quickly questioned herself if she could really call him that if the same amount of vulgarity escaped her mouth.

[Eye color] eyes glimmered as they spotted the first "Titan". Shooting her grapples into the trunk of a tree diagonal of it, she readied herself with her blades, attaching the hilts to the pieces of metal. Gliding past it, the busty woman's swords sliced cleanly through it, and the familiar sound of the material being torn was music to her ears.

About to crash headfirst into the tree, [Name] spun her body so her boots came into contact with it. It then quivered at the force as she pushed off and rocketed past another "Titan", summersaulting in the air. She successfully sliced a gap in the weak point. Bouncing off another trunk, she flipped backwards and grabbed onto a branch, flinging her body towards the other wooden cutouts, a small grin of excitement on her face.

_Not bad… she tries to rely on her surroundings more than her gear, _Levi thought as watched from his galloping horse with mild interest, though his face remained the same. _She just might become a fine asset to the Survey Corps._

* * *

"Whoo… what a rush that was," [Name] sighed as she crossed her arms behind her head. She and Levi had stopped by the equipment room once again, so she could put her gear away, and then the stables for his horse.

Actually taking the time to contemplate this, she just realized how light her body felt without all the equipment on. Being in Garrison, it was required to wear your 3DMG at all times, even during breaks, since they did their work on and around the walls. She supposed that one would just get used to it after a while.

"So, sir, what are we doing next?" she asked as they both seemed to be walking aimlessly around. But the only reply she received were the sounds of his boots mating with the ground. _Okay, don't answer. Doesn't bother me one bit, you little—_

That was when three figures caught her attention. One blonde young man was very brawny and seemed to have a nasty look on his face. On the left side of him, another young man had a serious expression that revealed only a twinge of nervousness mixed with curiosity, and brown mop of hair on his head. And next to him stood a young lady with raven black, chin-length hair and a red scarf thrown around her neck. Her facial expression was plain, almost like Corporal Levi's. But as soon as [Name] got a closer look, she thought she was gorgeous! And that brunette had brilliant turquoise eyes! Such a calming color.

"These three imps are Reiner Braun, Eren Jaeger, and Mikasa Ackerman. They're three of the top ten grads from the 104th Trainees Squad," Levi introduced, rotating so he faced [Name] and the others half-way. "Brats, this is [Name] [Last Name], my new shitty assistant." He tilted his head at her, and when she thought he wasn't looking, she glared and stuck out her tongue indignantly. She noticed how a quick and small smile twitched at all three of the cadets' mouths.

_Eren Jaeger… the name seems so familiar… but then again, I tend to have a lot of Déjà vu moments… _[Name] dismissed the thought. _Oh wait, but then again… most of the time they're right so… _Now she was going to confuse herself.

Getting back on track, [Name] saluted. "It's a pleasure to meet you three. And I can assure you that I'm not a 'shitty' assistant." The three followed suit, saluting and nodding. A small sound of annoyance erupted from Levi.

"Enough introductions. Pick one," He stated. Well, more like _commanded_, the little snot…

"Pick one… what?" the woman queried accompanied by the raise of an eyebrow.

"This is an assessment of your hand-to-hand combat skills. Now hurry up and pick a brat, kid." He snapped.

[Name] narrowed her eyes slightly, pressing her lips up in an angry manner. He only glared back. _Kid?_ They were pretty close in age, right? He looked pretty damn young, after all. But, [Name] decided to take that as a compliment. After all: Levi might be fifty years old for all she knew but still look like he was eighteen. She'd have to ask Petra later.

Bringing herself back out of her rambling thoughts once again, she remembered that new fighting technique she had been perfecting in her free time, before she had gotten the notice that she was being reassigned.

Others in the Garrison seemed to think it uncanny for one to train in their free time, instead of lazing about and drinking. But you never know when something like it might come in handy, she'd like to say. She _did_ hang around a bunch of drunkards while in the Garrison, so better safe than sorry, right?

Sighing, she abruptly pointed at Eren, causing his shoulders to jump a little. "I choose Jaeger-boy, then."

They got into their fighting stances. Eren raised his fists near his face; one in front of his nose, the other near the lining of his jaw, heading towards his ear. His back slightly hunched over, the brunette shifted so his legs were parted, one behind, one up front.

[Name] crouched, her feet adjusting as she spread her legs as well. Drawing her right fist back to her side, her curled fingers facing upward, her left hand went up to the area around her face. Her fingers were in an unusual formation: the index, middle finger and thumb were bent, almost forming an invisible triangle; whilst her pinky and ring finger lay against her palm. She hunched her back as well, and went into a semi-squat position. Thin eyebrows furrowing, she put on her poker face.

"Begin." Levi declared.

Eren was the first to move. He charged at [Name] with a battle cry, and instead of waiting, she also charged at him. He threw a hard punch at her shoulder, successfully screwing up her balance.

But not for long.

Catching her equilibrium, [Name] deftly spun around, her boots skidding on the ground, and got behind Eren. She swept her feet under him. She was sure he was going to fall flat on his ass. But instead he used this to his advantage to summersault away from her, gaining distance. Smart boy.

They circled each other slowly, like two wild beasts preparing to duel for a piece of meat. They were silent, watching prudently for any sudden movement.

Breaking those moments of silence and slow movement, [Name] suddenly veered off course in mid-step, her torso moving sharply at the change. Although she wasn't exactly the fastest, she took huge steps, closing the distance between Eren and her speedily.

Eren waited for the right time to strike, and he swung another punch at her. But she ducked, his fist barely missing. Still crouched low, both her arms shot up, and her pointed fingers stabbed into Eren's pressure points under his arms. He gasped audibly as he felt a quick pain but the numbness that came after it surprised him even more. The feeling went all the way down to very tips of his fingers. His arms fell limply to his sides. He couldn't fight properly without his arms, so he lost… right?

No. No, he hasn't lost. Not yet.

[Name] was about to fix her posture when she felt a sharp pain mingle with her face. She cried out and flew backwards a good 3-4 feet with a significant _thump_. Eren had managed to kick her.

Lifting herself up on her elbows, a hand fled to her face. Her nose was aching. And bleeding, she realized, once she felt the warm liquid, though not that much. She then felt around the bridge of her nose. She sighed inwardly in relief: her nose wasn't broken.

After wiping away the blood with the sleeve of her tan jacket—which earned her a menacing leer from Levi, no doubt—she got back up and smirked at the teen. "Not bad, Jaeger-boy!" she called and then readied herself once more.

They charged at each other again, and she noticed how Eren had use of his arms once more. _Damn. _She had hoped it would've last longer.

This time, [Name] aimed a punch at Eren's face, but he dodged it, sinking down just as she had done earlier.

But [Name] was going to go in for the kill.

Before Eren could land a blow, she kneed him under his chin, send up and backwards. Then, she pivoted on her toes, and with almost abnormal speed, she was behind. [Name], with her left fist in her right palm, struck Eren's back with her elbow, sending him on to the ground, his final destination.

Eren groaned. "How did you...?"

Her once sober expression was now replaced with one of amusement. The tangerine haired woman grinned at him, revealing her sharp canines. "It's just a technique I picked up. But looks like I still have some perfecting to do."

[Name] lent him a hand, lugging him up by his arms.

"Do you think you can teach me that technique sometime, Miss [Name]?" His turquoise eyes glimmered with hope and interest.

[Name] shrugged casually, but a surge of pride ran through her. It was a little… _exciting_, that someone had taken an interest in her combat skills. Especially since, in her opinion, she still wasn't good enough. "Eh, well, maybe; depends on how I'm feeling. By the way, you've got gorgeous eyes." She saw his eyes widen slightly and he blushed, mumbling a stuttered thank-you.

"Alright, Ackerman. You're next." Levi decided.

"Good luck, [Name]. You're going to need it." Eren whispered. She nodded.

"Begin." Levi declared again after the two females got into their ready positions.

With an internal battle cry, this time [Name] made the first move, charging at Mikasa. [Name] knew that she was going to need to use a slightly different method against Mikasa. She most definitely seemed to be the analytic type.

The Oriental girl, with an ever-composed face, kicked at [Name], which she in turn blocked with the back of her crossed forearms. The boot landed pretty damn close to her face. Straining, she tried to push it away.

But then an idea plopped itself into [Name]'s brain. Using her left foot, she aimed for the pressure point on the inner side of Mikasa's inner thigh, successfully striking it (though, she did blush a little, since she her fingers were mere inches away from _that_ area. Now, that definitely would've been awkward if she had _touched_ it). The weight on her arms weakened, and the orange haired woman used a majority of her force to knock Mikasa backwards. A small victory smirk was about to etch itself onto [Name]'s features until…

Mikasa somehow managed to grab onto [Name].

_Shit._

With a small grunt of effort, she heaved [Name] behind her, and she yelled in surprise. But [Name] quickly recovered and flipped her body so she landed in a squatted position, skidding across the dirt ground. Dust and dry dirt decided to get comfortable on her boots.

"Enough." Levi interjected as they were about to go at it again. "This ends in a draw. Braun, you're next."

* * *

After her duel with Reiner Braun, the three cadets were dismissed, and [Name] followed Levi back to his office. Though most of the walks with him thus far were silent, she was glad he had told her where they were going this time. Because so far, [Name] realized that the townsfolk set their expectations of him too high. He'd have to use a couple stepstools to reach them—if they were graspable, that is.

She silently giggled at that.

[Name] then took this time to let her mind wander back to those cadets. That brunette—Eren, yes, that's what it was—was someone she'd get along with quite well. Maybe she really will teach him her moves. Maybe.

And that Mikasa. Quite a jewel, with that lovely face of hers.

[Name] then made a face at how that sounded in her mind. But either way, Mikasa must be quite popular.

Oh, but as they were leaving, she saw Mikasa shoot her one nasty glare. [Name] still wonders what the hell her problem was.

But Reiner Braun... _goddesses_, was that guy a pervert!

When [Name] tried to get a punch in, he grabbed her arm and pulled her past him, and his fingers just _happened _to slide up from her ass and tap dance up the curve of her side.

And he did mutter an apology. But that seemingly lewd smirk on his face said otherwise.

And when [Name] had him pinned under her—which ended the duel—his hand _accidentally_ slid up her thigh to her hip. [Name], a flustered, blushing mess, quickly got up, not bothering to help him, and righted herself. He walked away, but not before winking at her.

[Name] felt very disturbed.

But she remembered seeing Levi talk to him afterwards, a serious expression on his features—even though that seemed like his normal face. The blonde young man (who could easily be mistaken for a gigolo, [Name] noted), looked like he bowed his head in shame after he saluted the corporal and was sent off.

With a miniscule shudder, she decided that it was best if she kept some distance from him.

Looking up into the sky, [Name] saw that it was getting darker. The sunset was beautiful: Red, pink, hints of indigo and purple, yellow, and orange mashed and mixed together, forming a collage around that ball of light, the sun. A lovely sight to behold.

[Name] whistled lightly. "_Hermosa_…"

Levi must have caught what she said, for his footsteps slowly came to stop. Though, the fact that they stopped in front of a door that led into the building where his office was, might also be the reason why. [Name] looked to him warily. It just slipped out! She did have a tendency to speak in a native tongue once in a while. But he must have superhuman hearing if he heard that! The word literally came out in a low _breath_!

"What did you say?" he inquired in a low tone. Yet, it wasn't a dangerously low tone. It was an interested one, for the first time that day. [Name] relaxed the muscles that had unintentionally tensed. Maybe she was slowly making progress?

"A-ah… I was just saying the sky looked beautiful…" [Name] muttered bashfully, her gaze casted downwards. Levi stared at her for a while before shifting those piercing eyes towards the sky. After a moment, he _hmmph_'d and then opened the door.

They walked through the corridors in silence, passing by a few other soldiers who gave [Name] curious glances but some gave her friendly smiles.

Once at his office, Levi opened his door and stepped through. [Name] was about to do the same until he halted her with a gloved hand. She looked down at the hand and then to his face confusingly.

He scowled and then growled. "And just _what_ do you think you're doing?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Chapter two is finally done! Yay!**

**Ivory: It took a while too.**

**Yeah, but blame that on homework. I was fully in the Writing Zone too! Anyway, do y'all think I made Reiner a little too bold? Or naw? And the action scenes: were they action-packed enough? Please, leave a review and tell me what you think of this story! It really does motivate me to write faster. And thank you very much to those that did review! I was truly elated!**

**Oh, and those three chapters were already written up, but I just had to edit them. So from now on, it's Improvising Time! I might actually get the chapters done faster that way. Hopefully.**

**Ja ne! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

{Recap from last time-

**Once at his office, Levi opened his door and stepped through. [Name] was about to do the same until he halted her with a gloved hand. She looked down at the hand and then to his face confusingly.**

**He scowled and then growled. "And just **_**what**_** do you think you're doing?"**}

* * *

"E-eh, sir?" [Name] asked, confused. "Is there a problem—"

"You bet your ass there's a problem. You're not coming in here like that. Go clean yourself up first. Dirty Newbie Brat." And with that, he closed the door in her face. Rather harshly. [Name] frowned deeply, causing creases to form around her nose and mouth. She had more than half a mind to punch a goddamn hole through the door. But, she decided that that wouldn't be such a cunning idea. Besides, she'd rather not get on the corporal's nerves any further.

"Hmph, he's lucky he's short already. That way I won't have to stunt his growth any further," she muttered indignantly.

Sighing, she took a whiff of herself. Ooh, yeah, time to hit the showers. [Name] also saw dirt and grime smudges here and there on her uniform. And her hair was becoming a bit unkempt.

Hm, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that the corporal had pointed it out. But he could've been a little nicer.

Giving up on the matter for now, she walked down the right side of the corridor where an escort way earlier that day had showed her where her shared quarters were, as well as the bathrooms. At least there was one good side about sharing the quarters: [Name] knew all the people there. So, she cheered up a bit, replacing that frown with a smile and walked down the halls with spring to her step.

* * *

**In Levi's Office**

After dismissing [Name] to go clean up, he took off his tan military jacket and then hung it on the back of his chair. Settling into the mahogany chair that matched his desk, he noticed that for the first time in a while, there wasn't any paperwork crowding the polished surface. It was times like these when he was grateful for his subordinates.

Well, it wasn't that he didn't appreciate them unless they did his work or something. He was actually excruciatingly proud of his squad and how efficiently they worked together, even though it didn't look like it. But will having that newbie [Last Name] there screw that up? _Tch_. Hopefully not.

But then again, that episode in the cafeteria told that Petra and [Name] had some kind of relationship. Maybe the orange haired female knew of the other squad members by chance? If so, then that'd make things simpler.

Leaning back into his ligneous chair, Levi folded his arms across his chest and decided he was going to rest his eyes for a few minutes.

* * *

After taking her shower, [Name] had a towel that stopped above her knees wrapped around her figure as she rummaged through the knapsack that held her clothes. She decided to remain in the bathroom as she changed, since it would be a little awkward if someone—namely a guy—had stepped in on her whilst changing in the shared quarters. Better safe than sorry, right?

"Ah, here they are," [Name] said in triumph as she fished out her undergarments and a pair of tan khakis. After putting those on, she found a black button up blouse and threw it into the mix. Once she completed her outfit, she brushed her orange mane and put it up into a neat pony tail. Last, but not least, she hooked her twin triangular earrings into her ears. They shined a beautiful dark color in the humidity of the bathroom.

Deciding that she looked what the corporal might deem decent, [Name] left the bathroom, dropped her rucksack off on her bed, and put on all the straps that soldiers were required to wear. It was bothersome, but she got it done.

Now, to embark on her journey to the corporal's office.

From what [Name] thought, she was about halfway to her destination when she saw a fellow soldier having trouble with handling a rather large stack of papers. When the soldier was about to trip and fall, [Name] caught him from the front with a small "whoa!", and balanced the person.

"Whew, thank you. I'm quite clumsy when it comes to things like this." Judging from the bass the voice contained, it was a male soldier.

"Ah, it's no problem; anyone would have problems when carrying something that obstructs their view," she replied, moving her head to get a glimpse of the other. He did the same, and she saw that he had short, slightly tussled mud brown locks of hair and a run-of-the-mill look to his face.

"Here, let me take some of those for you," she offered, removing at least half from his hands. He began walking and [Name] followed.

"Thanks a bunch," the man sighed in relief as the weight lessened. "Oh, by the way, I'm Moblit."

"I'm [Name]; nice to meet you, Moblit."

His brown eyes widened a bit and stared at her. "You must be the new guy then? Squad Leader Hanji said something about Squad Leader Levi getting an assistant."

_Wow, I'm pretty popular_, [Name] thought conceitedly in a joking way. "Yep, that's me. But Sir Levi doesn't approve, with all the dirty looks he gives me," she admitted with annoyance, while mimicking her superior's face.

Moblit laughed good-naturedly. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. He's like that with everyone," he assured.

"Oh boy, can't wait to live with that for the rest of my mortal life," the [eye color] eyed woman remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. The two stopped at a door that was similar to all the other ones along the corridor.

"Well, working with him might be a little less… nerve wracking, than when working with my squad leader." [Name] arched a thin eyebrow at that, but she'll eventually understand what he meant later. "Anyway, thank you for your help," he smiled pushed the entrance open wider with his foot, since, thankfully, it was already cracked open. He stepped through and [Name] followed, taking a gander of the…office?

Papers and other documents were strewn across the floor until you could barely see the wooden floorboards, and there was nothing eligible [Name] could decipher at a first glance; pencils and quills were either sticking straight out of the floor or dangling from the ceiling, along with small ink stains and blots next to them and adorning the walls. Putting it kindly, it looked like a warzone.

"What… happened in here? Did a Titan come in and break wind?" [Name] questioned aloud, incredulously. Moblit had disappeared somewhere, but she found that he had set the stack of papers on a clean-surfaced desk, but the drawers were all opened wildly, two of them were completely pulled out and on the floor near the chair.

"That's a good question!" a feminine voice cackled, startling the young woman. Searching for the voice, [Name] saw Moblit emerge from a storage room of sorts in the far corner with a matching bewildered expression. That was when a thud was heard in the direction of one of the windows, and their heads snapped over to see a disheveled brunette climbing in through the opening with a large grin, wide eyes, and her specs balanced crookedly on the bridge of her nose. "But Titans don't have excretory organs."

Moblit rushed over to her. "Squad Leader! What were you doing out the window?!" He quickly pulled her in by the arms and her booted feet landed on the ground with a loud _pmmpf_. She dusted herself off nonchalantly and righted her glasses.

"Well, lookie here, it's the new one!" She cheered, completely ignoring Moblit's question. [Name] didn't realize Hanji was addressing her until she felt the Titan fanatic shake the shit out of her hand. "You're [Name], right?" Hanji queried after pulling away, leaving quite the disorientated [Name]. "I'm guessing you already know who I am."

"Y-yes, that's me, and yes: you're Squad Leader Hanji," she replied after a moment with a shy laugh, gathering her bearings. _How eccentric. Now I know what Moblit meant_, she realized.

"Well, then, you should probably had back to Shorty. He gets really angry when people are late," the squad leader informed the tangerine haired female. [Name] jolted slightly at that, gulping. So much for good impressions…

"Well, uh, I'll be going now. Excuse me." Saluting Hanji and Moblit, [Name] left briskly, barely hearing Moblit thanking her for helping him once more and Hanji shouting "Have fun!" As if.

"Man, I hope Corporal won't bitch too much about it. Besides, it's not like he gave me a specific time to return," [Name] said to herself as she jogged down the halls to his office.

Catching her breath a bit, she knocked on his door once she made it and nervously stated her name when she heard his guttural tone from behind the oak door.

"Enter," he ordered after a moment of waiting. And so [Name] did.

The young maiden awkwardly walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She found that Levi had his back to her as he was gazing out of the window behind his desk. On the desk were two stacks of many papers, and an ink bottle and a few quills were laid out on the right side of the stacks. [Name] gazed around the office. It was… immaculate—the room, completely spotless. The assistant felt like she was choking on cleanliness.

"Eh… good evening, sir," she greeted quietly but loud enough for him to hear and saluted.

"You're late," Levi deadpanned, turning his body slight and giving her a side glance.

[Name] swallowed the bit of buildup of saliva in her mouth before replying. "Um, sir, if I may, you did not give me a specific time to return." Well that took balls.

He turned around fully, his bluish-grey eyes piercing into her. His thin eyebrows were drawn downward as he scowled at her. "If you're to be my assistant, I expect you to be back in my office in a timely fashion, whether I give you a time or not. Understood?"

"U-understood, sir." Damn, she was feeling a bit intimidated.

"Also, use backtalk like that again and I'll personally clean your mouth out with ten bars of soap, along with the duty of cleaning the stables for a month. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir," she said with a nod.

He fixed his cravat and cleared his throat. "Good. Now sit your ass in that desk and do some work." His slender digit pointed out a desk stationed next to his, but there was gap separating them. It was smaller and blander than Levi's and on the surface there were two stack of papers waiting for her, along with a flask of writing ink and a quill.

Inwardly sighing, she made her way to the desk and sat down in the wooden seat. Her ass was definitely going to be hurting after a few hours of sitting on it. Taking the first document from the paper-pile on the left, she skimmed through it, but saw nothing she had to sign. Looking at the paper-pile on the right, the sheets were blank. She looked back and forth repetitively until it dawned upon her.

She was supposed to replicate the documents… word for word. And she already knew the work would have to be as flawless as possible.

"What are you sitting there shitting for? Get to work, brat," Levi growled at her as he took his seat and began his own work. _Such eloquent language he has_, she growled in her mind before getting to work.

* * *

It's been an hour and a half and [Name] had successfully finished four pages of a document. She had to make sure all the letterings were correct and that the words lined up with each other in a perfectly straight line. She rolled her aching wrist and then began cracking her ten fingers individually.

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop-pop! _Ooh, that was a good one.

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Po—_

"Will you stop that damn noise?" The corporal tapped his finger against his desk irately, giving [Name] the evil eye.

_-op! _

"S-sorry, sir; I guess I'm not used to doing so much paperwork. I didn't really do this much while I was in the Garrison," she explained apologetically. Well, maybe she shouldn't have said that last bit—he might get angry at her again.

He stared the woman dead into her bright eyes before asking the question that had been bothering him for a while.

"If you had made it in the Top Ten before, why did you waste your skills and time by joining the Garrison? All you're doing is hanging around a bunch of drunkards."

This surprised [Name]. She never would've thought the Corporal would be interested in knowing something like that. But at least he didn't seem mad.

A small smile graced her lips as she spoke. "Well, Petra made me promise her. I initially wanted to join the Survey Corps with her, to protect her. But she insisted I stay safe within the Walls. It made me angry at first—putting her life on the line while I sat around only hoping she makes it back safely every time she went out the Walls. But I learned to cope with it for that time being, by drinking. But now that I'm in the Survey Corps, I can repay Petra and protect her this time." Determination and loyalty sparkled in her pools of [e/c]. "And besides," she added with a brighter grin, "those drunkards became my friends, so life wasn't too lonely."

Levi let her words sink in a bit as silence filled the office.

"Hm," he grunted and then went back to his work.

[Name]'s eyebrow twitched as she went back to work a bit nettled. _Spill my guts out and all he can say is 'hm'? Qué cabrón…_

But unbeknownst to her, Levi—stolid, cold, potty-mouthed Levi—actually found the orange-headed, earring wearing, and bright-eyed female somewhat… intriguing.

* * *

Another two hours of replicating documents and a bell finally sounded for dinner.

"Thank god," [Name] whispered as she sighed in relief. She hadn't eaten all day and she was starving! She didn't bother to ask the Lance Corporal for food, since he'd probably call her an idiot and give her mouthful of foul vocabulary to chew on. Or that's what she expected.

And the silence that had enveloped the two during that time span of working felt like it was crushing her body like three-ton weight. She was so used to the boisterous laughter and noisy clanking of bottles carrying alcoholic beverages that always seemed to follow her and her old buddies from the Garrison. Now she's had enough silence to last her a lifetime.

After stacking the papers and making sure the finished documents were in a neat pile, she briefly glanced at Levi wondering if he'd dismiss her. He still seemed to be consumed in his work. She decided to wait patiently a few seconds.

…

[Name] had counted to ten, and her sanity was slipping. _Okay, that's it. I'm seriously gonna die if I don't eat. _Clearing her throat, she stood and walked until she was in front of her superior's desk. She noticed him looking up from his work, his stormy blue-grey optics slightly hidden under his dark tresses.

"What is it?" he asked in an impassive, monotonous mumble.

Summoning her courage, she stood straight and tall as she spoke. "Since the dinner bell rang, I was wondering if I could be excused, Corporal." With that unchanging deadpan expression, he looked at her, her work and then back to her. She only had a few left to copy and then she'd be done.

"No."

"Please, sir?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Ah, so then I **can** go?"

"No."

"Oh, come the f-" she barely stopped herself from groaning and whining. Couldn't he be kind to her for a couple seconds?! "Corporal, please let me go eat," she pleaded desperately, yet tried to keep her voice calm as possible. "I haven't eaten all day—I missed out on breakfast and lunch, and if I don't eat now, I won't be able to do my work properly and it'll be all shitty and then-" The short man silenced her with a calloused hand in the air.

"…Fine," he relented with a light sigh, causing her face to glow in happiness. "But, I will be accompanying you so you won't be fucking late again. Now go wait out in the hall for me."

She nodded and did as she was told and had to resist the urge to skip out the door. Then he would think you were an airheaded moron. But hey, she was glad she was finally going to get some grub into that empty chamber called her stomach.

With another tired sigh, Levi organized the finalized official papers in one neat pile and moved them to the right. He righted the left heap of documents and moved onto placing his quill feathers and ink vial into one of his desk drawers.

That's when he saw it.

A manila folder was present inside the wooden drawer, big red letters spelling out the word PRIVATE in the middle of it. Placing the down the items in hand back onto the desk, the curious black haired man took out the folder carefully so its contents wouldn't spill out onto the floor. Opening the dossier, his normally narrowed eyes widened a bit as he saw whose files these were.

**[Name] [Last Name]'s.**

But what really grabbed his attention was not her name or the fact that her file was in his desk. No. It was the fact that the words in black, bold lettering was actually referring to the slightly ditzy, yet optimistic lady he had just been working with.

**[Name] [Last Name]: Murderer.**

**A/N: Omaigawd, it's been three months… I'm so very sorry, Mon Chickies! I was having the WORST Brain Fart for this chap and so then my motivation was dropping. I was honestly think too much about shit that's gonna happen in the future chaps and whether or not I should keep this on hiatus until I got all my crap together. But, I decided to get my ass back on this! And I hate to disappoint all the people who have been supporting this and like it so far, so thank you for actually sticking with me and hoping I wouldn't drop this, if you did.**

**Also, I was in another continent for six weeks on vacation (South America), so I didn't have a lot of time to work on all the things I wanted, since I was constantly going places. I apologize.**

**Once again, I'm very apologetic for not updating as fast as I probably said I would, and thank you very much for reading! Please look forward to more chapters—I'm shifting back into my Writing Mode!**

**(P.S.: School is starting again soon… Ugggggh! So, I'm gonna try and update as fast as I can, aw'ight? Please bear with me!)**


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